Cultivation of algal biofilm and mat communities from the Garhwal Himalayas for possible use in diverse biotechnological applications.

The current study aimed to screen biofilm-/mat-forming and fast-growing algal communities from the Garhwal Himalayas, India. A total of 15 biofilm/mat-forming algal samples were collected, 8 biofilms out of these could be cultured and analyzed for their growth and development with time. Light microscopy was used to identify different types of cyanobacteria and algae present in the different collected biofilms/mats. Four biofilm and mat communities, namely biofilms #E, #F, #G, and #H, were found to have fast growth and were quick to colonize the substratum. Nylon net was identified as the most cost-effective and best-supporting material for biofilm development and biomass production. The study also found that increasing the harvesting frequency from the nylon net-enmeshed biofilms at least once a week would enhance the final biomass yield compared to harvesting the community once after a longer growth duration. Nevertheless, the findings reported here will be useful for researchers in developing phototrophic biofilm-based technology using nylon net, as it will be mechanically strong, supportive, and easy to handle.

A Randomized Controlled Trial on Comparison of Clinical Outcome in Uncomplicated SAM Managed with and without Antibiotics.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical outcome of management of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) at community level with antibiotics vs. without antibiotics. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on children aged 6 to 59 mo with uncomplicated SAM, selected randomly from rural areas of Kanpur. A total of 100 children were enroled and were randomized into two groups, the intervention group who were given antibiotics for a week and the control group who were not given antibiotics. Rest of the management was same. Demographic, clinical and anthropometric details of each child were taken. RESULTS: Gender and socio-economic status was comparable in both the groups. Anthropometric parameters (mean weight for age, height for age and weight for height) in both the groups were not significantly different at the time of enrolment and also at two weeks follow-up. At 2 wk follow-up, weight/height Z score in the intervention and control group were -1.29±0.84 and -1.45±0.93, respectively (p value = 0.436). CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that whether antibiotics were given or not in the management of children with uncomplicated SAM, improvement in clinical and anthropometric parameters was seen without any significant difference.

Patent intelligence of RNA viruses: Implications for combating emerging and re-emerging RNA virus based infectious diseases.

The recent outbreak of one of the RNA viruses (2019-nCoV) has affected most of the population and the fatalities reported may label it as a modern-day scourge. Active research on RNA virus infections and vaccine development had more commercial impact which leads to an increase in patent filings. Patents are a goldmine of information whose mining yields crucial technological inputs for further research. In this research article, we have investigated both the patent applications and granted patents, to identify the technological trends and their impact on 2019-nCoV infection using biotechnology-related keywords such as genes, proteins, nucleic acid etc. related to the RNA virus infection. In our research, patent analysis was majorly focused on prospecting for patent data related to the RNA virus infections. Our patent analysis specifically identified spike protein (S protein) and nucleocapsid proteins (N proteins) as the most actively researched macromolecules for vaccine and/or drug development for diagnosis and treatment of RNA virus based infectious diseases. The outcomes of this patent intelligence study will be useful for the researchers who are actively working in the area of vaccine or drug development for RNA virus-based infections including 2019-nCoV and other emerging and re-emerging viral infections in the near future.

Dietary cadmium induced declined locomotory and reproductive fitness with altered homeostasis of essential elements in Drosophila melanogaster.

Cadmium (Cd) exerts detrimental effects on multiple biological processes of the living organisms along with epigenetic transgenerational effect. Drosophila melanogaster offers unique opportunity to evaluate Cd toxicity when studying important life traits in short duration of time by designing distinct behavioural assays. Present study utilized this model organism to assess Cd induced lethality, retarded growth, decreased life span and altered behaviour of the animals either at larval or adult stage. Our investigations revealed reduced locomotion and reproductive fitness of the animals upon Cd exposure. Transgenerational effect on locomotion was found to be behaviour specific as larval crawling was affected, but adult fly negative geotaxis was comparable to the control. Mechanistically, decreased antioxidant enzymes activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) together with altered homeostasis of essential elements (Fe, Zn and Mg) may be responsible for the observed effects. Altogether our work showed extensive range of Cd altered Drosophila behaviour which warrants need to control environmental Cd toxicity.

Does silicon really matter for the photosynthetic machinery in plants ?

Silicon (Si) is known to alleviate the adverse impact of different abiotic and biotic stresses by different mechanisms including morphological, physiological, and genetic changes. Photosynthesis, one of the most important physiological processes in the plant is sensitive to different stress factors. Several studies have shown that Si ameliorates the stress effects on photosynthesis by protecting photosynthetic machinery and its function. In stressed plants, several photosynthesis-related processes including PSII maximum photochemical quantum yield (Fv/Fm), the yield of photosystem II (φPSII), electron transport rates (ETR), and photochemical quenching (qP) were observed to be regulated when supplemented with Si, which indicates that Si effectively protects the photosynthetic machinery. In addition, studies also suggested that Si is capable enough to maintain the uneven swelling, disintegrated, and missing thylakoid membranes caused during stress. Furthermore, several photosynthesis-related genes were also regulated by Si supplementation. Taking into account the key impact of Si on the evolutionarily conserved process of photosynthesis in plants, this review article is focused on the aspects of silicon and photosynthesis interrelationships during stress and signaling pathways. The assemblages of this discussion shall fulfill the lack of constructive literature related to the influence of Si on one of the most dynamic and important processes of plant life i.e. photosynthesis.

Silver Nanoparticle's Toxicological Effects and Phytoremediation.

The advancement in nanotechnology has brought numerous benefits for humans in diverse areas including industry, medicine, and agriculture. The demand in the application of nanomaterials can result in the release of these anthropogenic materials into soil and water that can potentially harm the environment by affecting water and soil properties (e.g., soil texture, pH, organic matter, and water content), plants, animals, and subsequently human health. The properties of nanoparticles including their size, surface area, and reactivity affect their fate in the environment and can potentially result in their toxicological effects in the ecosystem and on living organisms. There is extensive research on the application of nano-based materials and the consequences of their release into the environment. However, there is little information about environmentally friendly approaches for removing nanomaterials from the environment. This article provides insight into the application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), as one of the most commonly used nanomaterials, their toxicological effects, their impacts on plants and microorganisms, and briefly reviews the possibility of remediation of these metabolites using phytotechnology approaches. This article provides invaluable information to better understand the fate of nanomaterials in the environment and strategies in removing them from the environment.

Dietary cadmium (Cd) reduces hemocyte level by induction of apoptosis in Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila melanogaster larvae ensure continuous proliferation and differentiation of hemocytes to maintain a fixed range of different blood cell types during its various stages of development. Variation in this number is often an indicator of animal well-being, its genotype or an effect of environmental perturbation, including exposure to heavy metals. The present study investigates the effect of Cd on larval hemocytes. Embryos were allowed to grow in metal media till third instar larvae and finally circulating hemocyte were collected. The number of major hemocytes, plasmatocytes and crystal cells was determined to be lowered in Cd exposed animals. Our results also showed modulation of antioxidant biology of Cd exposed hemocytes by changing the major antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity, and decreasing reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in hemocytes suspended in the hemolymph. Acridine orange (AO) staining further revealed induction of apoptosis in hemocytes of metal treated larvae. Our results suggest a negative impact of Cd exposure on the hemocytes of the Drosophila larvae culminating in their lowered count by induction of apoptosis.

Influence of different types of explants in chickpea regeneration using thidiazuron seed-priming.

A comparative regeneration of three types of explants prepared from axillary meristems, plumular apices and hypocotyls of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) was carried out using four thidiazuron (TDZ) treatment methods. The first and third ones included the short-term 20 µM TDZ pre-treatment for all three explant types followed by non-supplementation or supplementation of TDZ (4 µM) into the shoot induction medium (SIM), while the second and fourth ones lacked TDZ pre-treatment followed by non-addition or addition of 4 µM TDZ in the SIM. Axillary meristem explants produced the best results with seed pre-treatment using 20 µM TDZ without TDZ in SIM and showed the highest rate of regeneration efficiency (71.33 ± 1.5%) after 20 days. Concurrently, plumular apex explants from TDZ-primed seeds was ranked second, exhibiting a regeneration percentage of 54.33 ± 2.3% in SIM without supplementation of TDZ, whereas explants from hypocotyls generated from seeds subjected to any of the TDZ treatments were not regenerated on any SIMs after 20 days.

Progress in understanding salt stress response in plants using biotechnological tools.

Salinization is a worldwide environmental problem, which is negatively impacting crop yield and thus posing a threat to the world's food security. Considering the rising threat of salinity, it is need of time, to understand the salt tolerant mechanism in plants and find avenues for the development of salinity resistant plants. Several plants tolerate salinity in a different manner, thereby halophytes and glycophytes evolved altered mechanisms to counter the stress. Therefore, in this review article, physiological, metabolic, and molecular aspects of the plant adaptation to salt stress have been discussed. The conventional breeding techniques for developing salt tolerant plants has not been much successful, due to its multigenic trait. The inflow of data from plant sequencing projects and annotation of genes led to the identification of many putative genes having a role in salt stress. The bioinformatics tools provided preliminary information and were helpful for making salt stress-specific databases. The microRNA identification and characterization led to unraveling the finer intricacies of the network. The transgenic approach finally paved a way for overexpressing some important genes viz. DREB, MYB, COMT, SOS, PKE, NHX, etc. conferred salt stress tolerance. In this review, we tried to show the effect of salinity on plants, considering ion homeostasis, antioxidant defense response, proteins involved, possible utilization of transgenic plants, and bioinformatics for coping with this stress factor. An overview of previous studies related to salt stress is presented in order to assist researchers in providing a potential solution for this increasing environmental threat.

Promising Roles of Alternative Medicine and Plant-Based Nanotechnology as Remedies for Urinary Tract Infections.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are considered to be the most common infections worldwide, having an incidence rate of 40-60% in women. Moreover, the prevalence of this disorder in adult women is 30 times more than in men. UTIs are usually found in many hospitals and clinical practice; as disorders, they are complicated and uncomplicated; in uncomplicated cases, there is no structural or functional abnormality in the urogenital tract. However, obstruction, retention of urine flow and use of catheters increase the complexity. There are several bacteria (e.g., E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, etc.) successfully residing in the tract. The diagnosis must not only be accurate but rapid, so early detection is an important step in the control of UTIs caused by uropathogens. The treatment of UTIs includes appropriate antimicrobial therapy to control the infection and kill the causal microbes inside the body. A long-time usage of antibiotics has resulted in multidrug resistance causing an impediment in treatment. Thus, alternative, combinatorial medication approaches have given some hope. Available treatments considered Homeopathic, Ayurvedic, Unani, and other herbal-based drugs. There are new upcoming roles of nanoparticles in combating UTIs which needs further validation. The role of medicinal plant-based nanotechnology approaches has shown promising results. Therefore, there must be active research in phyto-based therapies of UTIs, such as Ayurvedic Biology.

Plant growth promoting Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Valeriana wallichii displays antagonistic potential against three phytopathogenic fungi.

The soil nature and characterstics are directly related to the micro-organisms present, bio-mineralization process, plant type and thus having harmonius and interdependent relationships. Soil bacteria having antagonistic activity against phytopathogens, play an important role in root growth, overall plant growth and also their composition depends upon the plant species. Population explosion across globe has resulted in indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides, thus posing serious risk to plant productivity and soil flora. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) are considered safer than chemical fertilizers as they are eco-friendly and sustain longer after colonization in rhizospheric soil. PGPRs are preferred as a green choice and acts as a superior biocontrol agents against phytopathogens. In the present study, a potential rhizobacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (isolate-2) was isolated from the rhizosphere of a medicinal plant, Valeriana wallichi. The bacterial isolate exhibited qualitative tests for plant growth promoting determinatives. It was also subjected to in-vitro biocontrol activity against potential phytopathogens viz. Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus and F. oxysporum. The antagonistic efficacy against F. oxysporum was 56.2% followed by Alternaria alternata to be 51.02%. The maximum inhibition of radial growth of F. oxysporum was 69.2%, Alternaria alternata (46.4%) and Aspergillus flavus (15%). The Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibited plant growth promotion rhizobacterial activity which can be expoited as biofertilizers. This study deals with microbial revitalization strategy and offers promising solution as a biocontrol agent to enhance crop yield. Further, PGPRs research using the interdisciplinary approaches like biotechnology, nanotechnology etc. will unravel the molecular mechanisms which may be helpful for maximizing its potential in sustainable agriculture.

Effects of Heat stress and molecular mitigation approaches in orphan legume, Chickpea.

Global warming has an adverse impact on agriculture and food security is in doldrums around the world. A sharp increase in the temperature of earth is expected and may lead to ~ 1.8-4 °C rise in average earth temperature by the year 2100. Thus, heat stress is a critical factor for plant growth development and crop yield. Chickpea, which is an important leguminous crop and rich source of proteins is also a heat sensitive crop but high temperature exceeding 35 °C inhibit its productivity. Climate-smart agriculture seems to be a plausible approach to minimize the drastic effect of climate change on plant's adaptation. This may help in better selection of tolerant cultivars of chickpea that can be used in breeding programmes for heat stress tolerance in chickpea. Also the biotechnological approaches using candidate genes expressed in transgenics plants may play pivotal role in the production of climate resilient chickpea plants. Some preliminary findings using CAP2, Galactinol synthase genes, proteomic approaches, RNA seq data, stay green traits and -OMICS in general, have proved to be promising. A close collaboration between agronomists, plant physiologists, geneticists, biotechnologists is the pressing need and must be envisioned in order to address heat stress tolerance in chickpea under the prevailing climatic conditions and continuously increasing temperature. In the context of global heat stress and climate change, adaptation and mitigation are the keywords for employing transdisciplinary methodologies with respect to plant growth, development and agronomy.

Chronic lead (Pb) exposure results in diminished hemocyte count and increased susceptibility to bacterial infection in Drosophila melanogaster.

Heavy metal Pb is a common toxic pollutant present in our environment adversely affecting health of the living organisms. Recent studies suggest positive correlation between heavy metal exposure and immune dysfunction and present work utilizes Drosophila to address this issue in relation to Pb exposure. In-vivo Pb toxicity was established by dietary intake where essential parameters like development and life span were found to be hampered and augmented upon metallothionein B (mtnB) downregulation hinting towards potential role of mtnB in Pb detoxification. Further response of Drosophila to B. subtilis bacterial infection was monitored by carrying out oral infections. Pb fed flies showed increased susceptibility to infection as compared to their controls. Since Drosophila hemocytes play dual role as immune cells, we checked for the total hemocyte count and found significant decrease in hemocyte numbers in Pb fed larvae. Both crystal cells and plasmatocytes, the two major hemocytes in third instar larval hemolymph were reduced. However we did not find any visible morphological changes in Giemsa stained hemocytes. Crystal cells are crucial for synthesis and release of phenoloxidase (PO), an enzyme required for melanin clot synthesis and deposition. PO activity assessed from total hemolymph protein isolates was found to be substantially decreased in Pb raised animals. Results were also confirmed by spot test and native gel activity assay of PO. Overall our results suggest immunotoxic effect of Pb through decrease in hemocyte count including crystal cell which in turn leads to decreased PO activity and increased susceptibility to B. subtilis.

Phyto-mediated synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles of Berberis aristata: Characterization, antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity with special reference to urinary tract pathogens.

The field of nanoscience or nanotechnology is gaining popularity day by day and it is now well established field of interdisciplinary sciences. Nanoparticles are synthesized by various methods but suffer from few limitations such as toxicity. To overcome the limitations of various synthesis methods, the focus has shifted to new radius which involves biological organisms such as plants i.e. green synthesis. This phyto-mediated approach using various plant parts and extracts thereof, is considered to be new, simple and cheaper strategy to synthesize metal nanoparticles. In the present work, we describe a simple, eco-friendly and low-cost procedure for biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using leaf extract of medicinally important plant, Berberis aristata. The synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles was subsequently characterized by using UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) which proved the synthesized ZnO NPs to fall in the range of nanoparticles. Synthesized ZnO NPs were further characterized and screened for antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. ZnO NPs displayed antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Serratia marcescens but not for Proteus and Salmonella Typhi. ZnO NPs displayed antibacterial activities and moderate antioxidant potential. Our results display the synthesized ZnO NPs to fall in an important class of potential antibacterial, antioxidant agents and effective against urinary tract infections.

Prospects of genetic engineering utilizing potential genes for regulating arsenic accumulation in plants.

The rapid pace of industrial, agricultural and anthropogenic activities in the 20th century has resulted in contamination of heavy metals across the globe. Arsenic (As) is a ubiquitous, naturally occurring toxic metalloid, contaminating the soil and water and affecting human health in several countries. Several physicochemical methods exist for the cleanup of As contamination but these are expensive and disastrous to microbes and soil. Plant based remediation approaches are low cost and environmentally safe. Hence, extensive biochemical, molecular and genetic experiments have been conducted to understand plants' responses to As stress and have led to the identification of potential genes. The available knowledge needs to be utilized to either reduce As accumulation in crop plants (rice) or to enhance As levels in shoots of hyperaccumulators (Pteris vittata). Gene manipulation using biotechnological tools can be an effective approach to exploit the potential genes (plasmamembrane and vacuolar transporters, glutathione and phytochelatin biosynthetic enzymes, etc.) playing pivotal roles in uptake, translocation, transformation, complexation, and compartmentalization of As in plants. The transgenic plants with increased tolerance to As and altered (increased/decreased) As accumulation have been developed. The need, however, exists to design plants with altered expression of two or more genes for harmonizing various events (like arsenate reduction, arsenite complexation, sequestration and translocation) so as to achieve desirable reduction (crop plants) or increase (phytoremediator plants) in As content. This review sheds light on transgenic approaches adopted to modulate As levels in plants and proposes future directions to achieve desirable results.

Riboswitch regulation in cyanobacteria is independent of their habitat adaptations.

Cyanobacteria are one of the ancient bacterial species occupying a variety of habitats with diverse metabolic preferences. RNA regulators like riboswitches play significant role in controlling the gene expression in prokaryotes. The taxonomic distribution of riboswitches suggests that they might be one of the oldest mechanisms of gene control system. In this paper, we analyzed the distribution of different riboswitch families in various cyanobacterial genomes. It was observed that only four riboswitch classes were abundant in cyanobacteria, B12-element (Cob)/AdoCbl/AdoCbl-variant riboswitch being the most abundant. The analysis suggests that riboswitch mode of regulation is present in cyanobacterial species irrespective of their habitat types. A large number of unidentified genes regulated by riboswitches listed in this analysis indicate the wide range of targets for these riboswitch families. The analysis revealed a large number of genes regulated by riboswitches which may assist in elaborating the diversity among the cyanobacterial species.

Sequence and structural characterization of Trx-Grx type of monothiol glutaredoxins from Ashbya gossypii.

Glutaredoxins are enzymatic antioxidants which are small, ubiquitous, glutathione dependent and essentially classified under thioredoxin-fold superfamily. Glutaredoxins are classified into two types: dithiol and monothiol. Monothiol glutaredoxins which carry the signature "CGFS" as a redox active motif is known for its role in oxidative stress, inside the cell. In the present analysis, the 138 amino acid long monothiol glutaredoxin, AgGRX1 from Ashbya gossypii was identified and has been used for the analysis. The multiple sequence alignment of the AgGRX1 protein sequence revealed the characteristic motif of typical monothiol glutaredoxin as observed in various other organisms. The proposed structure of the AgGRX1 protein was used to analyze signature folds related to the thioredoxin superfamily. Further, the study highlighted the structural features pertaining to the complex mechanism of glutathione docking and interacting residues.

Molecular analysis of reticulocyte binding protein-2 gene in Plasmodium vivax isolates from India.

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium vivax reticulocyte binding protein-2 (PvRBP-2) is a promising candidate for development of vaccine against parasite. DNA sequence polymorphism in pvrbp-2 which may hamper the vaccine development program has been identified in laboratory strains. Therefore, unraveling genetic polymorphism in pvrbp-2 from field isolates is a prerequisite for success in vaccine development. This study was designed with a primary aim to uncover genetic polymorphism in pvrbp-2 among P. vivax field isolates. RESULTS: Using virtual restriction mapping of pvrbp-2 sequences, two restriction enzymes (AluI and ApoI) were selected for the development of pvrbp-2 as a PCR-RFLP marker. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis revealed a high degree of genetic polymorphism in the pvrbp-2 gene among field isolates of P. vivax. ApoI-RFLP was found to be more efficient in identifying the extent of genetic polymorphism in pvrbp-2 compared to AluI-RFLP. Combined genotyping/haplotyping of RFLP pattern revealed a total of 36 distinct RFLP patterns among 83 P. vivax isolates analyzed. DNA sequence analysis also supports high degree of genetic polymorphism among field isolates of P. vivax. Pvrbp-2 PCR-RFLP method is able to distinguish multiple infection up to 16.86% and it revealed a low level of shared genetic pool between more than two populations. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that pvrbp-2 is highly polymorphic genetic marker which can be used for population genetic analyses. RFLP analysis suggests presence of nearly similar proportion of Sal-1 and Belem alleles in Indian P. vivax populations. The larger extent of genetic polymorphism identified from limited samples advocates to screen genetic polymorphism in pvrbp-2 from malaria endemic geographical regions and countries for designing pvrbp-2 based anti-malarial control measures.

Differential transcript accumulation in chickpea during early phases of compatible interaction with a necrotrophic fungus Ascochyta rabiei.

The initial phases of the disease establishment are very crucial for the compatible interactions. Pathogens must overcome the responses generated by the host for the onset of disease invasion. The compatible interaction is inadequately represented in plant-pathogen interaction studies. To gain broader insight into the early responses elicited by chickpea blight fungus Ascochyta rabiei during compatible interaction; we isolated early responsive genes of chickpea using PCR based suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) strategy. We obtained ~250 unique genes after homology search and redundancy elimination. Based on their potential cellular functions, these genes were broadly classified into eleven different categories viz. stress, signaling, gene regulation, cellular metabolism and genes of unknown functions. Present study revealed few unexpected genes which have a possible role in induced immunity and disease progression. We employed macroarray, northern blot, real-time PCR and cluster analysis to develop transcript profiles. Most of the genes analyzed were early induced and were transcriptionally upregulated upon 24 h post inoculation. Our approach has rendered the isolation of early responsive genes involved in signaling and regulation of metabolic changes upon fungal infection. The information obtained will help to dissect the molecular mechanisms during compatible chickpea-Ascochyta interactions.